Using Surveys in Language Programs

Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-79656-9 - Using Surveys in Language Programs

James Dean Brown
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Using surveys in language programs
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James Dean Brown
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CAMBRIDGE LANGUAGE TEACHING LIBRARY

A series covering central issues in language teaching and learning, by authors
who have expert knowledge in their field.
In this series:
Affect in Language Learning edited by Jane Arnold
Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Second Edition, by Jack Richards
and Theodore S. Rodgers
Appropriate Methodology and Social Context by Adrian Holliday
Beyond Training by Jack C. Richards
Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers by Ann Burns
Collaborative Language Learning and Teaching edited by David Nunan
Communicative Language Teaching edited by David Nunan
Developing Reading Skills by Franoise Grellet
Developments in English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley-Evans
and Maggie Jo St. John
Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers by Michael McCarthy
Discourse and Language Education by Evelyn Hatch
English for Academic Purposes by R. R. Jordan
English for Specific Purposes by Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters
Establishing Self-Access: From Theory to Practice by David Gardner
and Lindsay Miller
Foreign and Second Language Learning by William Littlewood
Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective edited by Michael Byram and
Michael Fleming
The Language Teaching Matrix by Jack C. Richards
Language Test Construction and Evaluation by J. Charles Alderson, Caroline
Chapham, and Dianne Wall
Learner-centredness as Language Education by Ian Tudor
Managing Curricular Innovation by Numa Markee
Materials Development in Language Teaching edited by Brian Tomlinson
New Immigrants in the United States edited by Sandra Lee McKay
and Sau-ling Cynthia Wong
Psychology for Language Teachers by Marion Williams and Robert L. Burden
Research Methods in Language Learning by David Nunan
Second Language Teacher Education edited by Jack C. Richards and David Nunan
Society and the Language Classroom edited by Hywel Coleman
Teacher Learning in Language Teaching edited by Donald Freeman
and Jack C. Richards
Teaching the Spoken Language by Gillian Brown and George Yule
Understanding Research in Second Language Learning by James Dean Brown
Using Surveys in Language Programs by James Dean Brown
Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy edited by Norbert Schmitt
and Michael McCarthy
Vocabulary, Semantics, and Language Education by Evelyn Hatch
and Cheryl Brown
Voices from the Language Classroom edited by Kathleen M. Bailey and David
Nunan
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James Dean Brown
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Using Surveys in
Language Programs
James Dean Brown

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, Hawaii
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James Dean Brown
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, So Paulo
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521792165
Cambridge University Press 2001
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2001
2nd printing 2005
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data
Brown, James Dean.
Using surveys in language programs / James Dean Brown.
p. cm. (Cambridge language teaching library)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13 978-0-521-79216-5 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-79216-9 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-79656-9 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-79656-3 paperback
1. language surveys. I. Title. II. Series.
P128.L35 B76 2000
418.0071 dc21 00-040344
ISBN 978-0-521-79216-5 hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-79656-9 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2007
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in
this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
The extract on pages 297 to 298 is reprinted from Learning styles in adult migrant
education (1988) by Ken Willing with permission from the National Centre for English
Language Teaching and Research (NCELTR), Australia. Macquarie University.
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This book is dedicated with love to Kimi.
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Contents
Preface
xi
1 Planning a survey project
Available tools for gathering information

2
The steps in a survey project
7
The goals of language surveys
12
Operationalizing key concepts
16
Formulating language survey research questions
Examples of survey planning
23
Summary
27
Suggestions for further reading
28
Important terms
28
Review questions
29
Applications
29
2
Designing a survey instrument
18
30
Types of questions surveys can answer

30
Functions of surveys
34
Different response and question formats
35
Guidelines for writing good survey questions
44
Guidelines for producing a polished questionnaire
Examples of designing a survey instrument
63
Summary
68
68
Important terms
68
Review questions
69
Application exercises
69
3
Gathering and compiling survey data
55
71
The importance of sampling

71
Pros and cons of interviews and questionnaires
Using interviews and questionnaires sequentially
Administering interviews
79
Administering questionnaires
85
Compiling survey data
92
74
78
vii
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Contents
Examples of gathering and compiling survey data
Summary
111
111
Important terms
112
Review questions
112
112
4
Analyzing survey data statistically
101
114
Descriptive statistics for analyzing survey results

114
Statistical tests for analyzing survey results
130
Checking survey reliability statistically
171
Survey validity
176
General guidelines for statistical studies
191
Examples of analyzing survey data statistically
192
Summary
208
208
Important terms
209
Review questions
210
210
5
Analyzing survey data qualitatively
212
Data reduction
213
Data display
215
Conclusion drawing and verification
223
Methods for estimating the reliability of qualitative
survey data
231
Existing guidelines for qualitative studies
240
Examples of analyzing survey data qualitatively
242
Summary
249
249
Important terms
250
Review questions
250
251
6
Reporting on a survey project
253
How should a survey report be organized?

Examples of reporting on a survey project
Summary
270
270
Important terms
270
Review questions
270
271
253
259
viii
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Contents
Appendix A
Language testing course description

questionnaire
273
Appendix B
TESOL Research Task Force questionnaire
Appendix C
Reading course evaluation questionnaire

for students
284
279
Appendix D Reading course evaluation interview questions

for ESL teachers
287
Appendix E
Reading course evaluation: Non-ESL faculty

questionnaire
288
Appendix F
Foreign TA training project needs analysis:

Interview questionnaire sheet
290
Appendix G
Example cover letter
292
Appendix H Second language teaching and curriculum survey:

Teaching assistant and lecturer support services
in Manoa language courses
294
Appendix I
References
Name index
Subject index
Language teaching activity preference survey
297
299
307
311
ix
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Preface
Using Surveys in Language Programs arose out of a need that has existed
for years. In teaching curriculum and research design courses, in serving
as an administrator of English as a Second Language/English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) programs, and in consulting on curriculum development and research projects in various EFL/ESL programs, I have
found myself repeatedly explaining the basics of survey research for both
curriculum development and research purposes: how to plan a survey
project, how to create sound interview or questionnaire instruments,
how to gather and compile the survey data, how to analyze the data
quantitatively and qualitatively, and how to report the results. Over time,
my reading, thinking, explaining, and hands-on experience with these
topics converged into the material of this book.
Using Surveys in Language Programs consists of six chapters, which
correspond to the topics that I have found the most useful for language
teachers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Planning a survey project

Designing a survey instrument
Gathering and compiling survey data
Analyzing survey data statistically
Analyzing survey data qualitatively
Reporting on a survey project
I chose this organizational structure because planning, designing, gathering, compiling, analyzing, and reporting are the steps that I have most
often found necessary in carrying out survey projects. Each of the six
chapters contains extensive examples drawn from my experience in survey development and use as an ESL teacher, professor, administrator, and
researcher.
Using Surveys in Language Programs presents a comprehensive, but
practical, overview of the different phases and activities involved in developing and implementing sound, rational, and effective survey projects.
I tailored the explanations to be useful for graduate students, language
teachers, administrators, and researchers. As such, I present both the theoretical and the practical issues involved in survey design in digestible
chunks. And, I explain all concepts in a step-by-step recipe manner, with
many examples and checklists throughout the discussions. Each chapter
xi
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Preface
also includes a summary, suggestions for further reading, a list of important terms, review questions, and application exercises, all of which
should make the survey design concepts more meaningful.
In short, I wrote this book to help you do whatever survey research is
important in your particular language teaching situation. I will have succeeded only if you actually apply what you learn here to solving some of
the many problems you face as a language teaching professional.
JD Brown
xii
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978-0-521-79656-9 - Using Surveys in Language Programs